Passengers of the Bertrand
The Atchison Family
Mary (24), Charles (5), and Emma (4) Atchison were travelling to Virginia City, Montana to meet John Atchison (39), husband to Mary and father to Charles and Emma. John had emigrated to Montana a year prior to his family's arrival and settled in Virginia City as a banker.
The Walton Family
Mary Elizabeth (32), Joseph Talbert (4), Letitia Amanda (6), John Edward (8), Martha Elizabeth (10), and Virginia Annette (13), like the Atchisons, were heading West to join husband and father Moses Edward Walton (41). Moses, who had served in the Missouri State Guard during the Civil War, moved to Montana in 1864 to establish a home for his family.
The Millard Family
Caroline Grover (28), Willard (3), Jessie (2) lasted two weeks in Virginia City, Montana, before leaving the frontier for a more urban setting. Caroline's husband, Joseph, is credited as a founder of Omaha, Nebraska and opened a bank in Virginia City, Montana prior to his family's arrival. After Caroline left Virginia City, Joseph rejoined her in Omaha where he worked with the Omaha National Bank, the Omaha & Northwestern Railroad, and the local government.
The Campbell Family
Two sisters, Anna (19) and Fannie (16), left St. Louis on the Bertrand to join their parents, James Blackstone (66) and Sarah Kaen Campbell, and their siblings Gurdon (30) and Helen in Gallatin City, Montana. The Campbell family had moved to Montana in 1862, but left Anna and Fannie to finish school in St. Charles, Missouri at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, where they boarded as well for the three year period.
Nicholas J. Beilenberg
Beilenberg (18), son of German immigrants, settled in Blackfoot, Montana, working as a butcher.
William McCoy Wheatley
Wheatley (38), a cobbler and farmer, moved to Montana to start a lumber business with his brother-in-law Joseph Humes. The business was unsuccessful and Wheatley returned to Missouri to settle some legal issues with his farm and to rejoin his wife Mildred and their two small children, John and Mary Eliza.
George Poole Dorriss
Dorriss (58) established a store in 1863 in Montana and traveled between Helena and St. Louis to oversee the shipment of goods.
John T. Murphy
Another consignee of the Bertrand cargo, Murphy (23) ran Murphy & Neal Co., a mercantile located in Fort Benton as well as another store in Virginia City.
Other passengers known to have boarded the Bertrand:
James D. Lucas, businessman
John W. Noye
John Thornton, salesman
W. Burroughs, a lawyer, with his daughter, and grandchildren
Albert Rowe, occupation unknown
Archaeological evidence also suggests a female Chinese immigrant by the name of Yi-Shing
*Ages are listed as known to be at time of Bertrand sinking
For further information on passengers and names of crew members:
Corbin 2000
Petsche 1974
Switzer 2013